In our last article, Nootropics for Athletes, we discussed several ergogenics (a category of supplements that enhance physical performance, stamina, or recovery) and how they can also be used to optimize brain energy and mental performance. Many of those substances, such as creatine, were well-researched because of their effects on the body. The same is true for numerous nootropic supplements, which were designed to optimize mental performance.

In this article we will cover some well-studied nootropics that also have physical enhancing effects. 

Mental fatigue lies at the core of motivating yourself to hit the gym and to give the extra push in your athletic performance. In Workout Motivation: The Science of the Brain's Role in Exercise we broadly introduced the importance of our mind for exercise performance. The interconnectedness between the brain and body means many markers of physical performance are modulated by our mind.

Here we focus on mental fatigue, introduce you to some of the fatigue models (how scientists believe the brain is operating), explain willpower and self-control and how they interact with workout motivation, and provide actionable tools to help you follow through on a workout program.

Neuroplasticity, the nervous system's adaptive capabilities to change itself over a lifetime, is a fascinating subject. This and many other aspects of cognitive function inspired our science team formulate Qualia Mind, and provide the most broad support for human brain health in a once-a-day vegan formula. The science behind neuroplasticity, and the role environment and behavior plays in it, warrant a closer look, so we can support the biochemical processes that drive neurogenesis.

Qualia nootropics were designed to promote a sustained improvement across the whole pallet of objective capacities and subjective states that contribute to optimized, creative, productive flow states. This goal required factoring many creative-productive capacities simultaneously. 

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator (i.e., a messenger molecule released by nerve cells to signal and regulate other nerve cells). It plays important roles in cognitive function, most notably, in the neural mechanisms of memory. In addition to this memory function, acetylcholine is involved in supporting alertness, attention, and learning. It is also responsible for the neuromuscular junction. It helps skeletal muscle contract and has many health benefits.

From air and water filters, to therapy lights, to exercise tools this list has a little of everything.

DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA) is an amino acid supplement, a synthetic phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is a neutral,non-polar amino acid that plays a crucial role in many functions within the body. One of those functions is to produce tyrosine, a major component for synthesizing hormones.

Hordenine HCl brings some notable benefits to the table, which is a substantial reason for its rise in popularity among biohackers and neurohackers. Hordenine can be a fairly versatile nutrient that can bring substantial value to any nootropic stack, supporting human system function at an optimal level.

Many people who are health conscious have likely heard of the benefits you can get from vitamin B6. Including vitamin B6 in your diet is relatively easy as you can find it in foods such as bread, pork, fish, eggs, and wholegrain cereals. These foods, however, may have depleted amounts of vitamin B6, in part because food preparation can lower that amount. Food that is frozen, canned, cooked, or processed usually leads to a lower level of vitamin B6 that you would get otherwise, so other dietary strategies should be pursued. For that reason, many people are choosing to include pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P) as part of their diet.

This is part 3 in a 3 part series exploring tools and practices reviewed in Stealing Fire, all designed to shift your state of consciousness and unlock new realms of human possibility. We’ve already covered ways to reprogram our psychology and tweak our neurobiology.

Neurohacking is the deliberate use of technology to upgrade the functioning of our brain and nervous system in every way to affects our conscious experience.

At Neurohacker Collective, we’re mapping the landscape of all the tools and technologies that radically improve mental wellbeing and performance.

Just about every civilization throughout history has practiced some form of neurohacking - deliberately upgrading their physiologies to positively affect their mind and psyche. The consumption of probiotic rich and fermented foods, for example, goes back over 10,000 years.

Today, the emerging field of human microbiome research has indicated that gut microbiota may play an important role in influencing brain development, behavior, and mood in humans.

If neurohacking is about upgrading the hardware our consciousness runs on, we would be remiss not to mention these technologies of altered states.

We may not immediately think of influencing the microbes in the gut when looking to improve brain function and mental health, but we should.